Router questions

[little wing]

Hey folks - Hope everyone is staying healthy. With this whole stay at home thing, I've noticed more devices are connected for longer periods of time to my router. It's an old Netgear model (R6250) It has anywhere between 10 and 12 devices connected at a time. Over the past week, I have noticed dropouts when I am listening to music. I use JRiver on a PC that has most of my CDs ripped in WAV format. The PC is wireless because it's on the second floor. The Yamaha AVR is plugged directly into the router with an Ethernet cable.

Unplugging the router and rebooting the PC has worked for the moment. But my question is, do you think this router needs to replaced soon? I'm not sure what else could be causing the drop-outs. Probably a whole bunch of things... Anyway I have begun to look at routers and when I google best routers for 2020 two names consistently come up, among others (Asus and Netgear) Does anybody have any ideas of what the best routers are, and if really need to invest in a new one?
Thanks,

 

[snakeeyes]

Hey folks - Hope everyone is staying healthy. With this whole stay at home thing, I've noticed more devices are connected for longer periods of time to my router. It's an old Netgear model (R6250) It has anywhere between 10 and 12 devices connected at a time. Over the past week, I have noticed dropouts when I am listening to music. I use JRiver on a PC that has most of my CDs ripped in WAV format. The PC is wireless because it's on the second floor. The Yamaha AVR is plugged directly into the router with an Ethernet cable.

Unplugging the router and rebooting the PC has worked for the moment. But my question is, do you think this router needs to replaced soon? I'm not sure what else could be causing the drop-outs. Probably a whole bunch of things... Anyway I have begun to look at routers and when I google best routers for 2020 two names consistently come up, among others (Asus and Netgear) Does anybody have any ideas of what the best routers are, and if really need to invest in a new one?
Thanks,

I have cable internet. I usually replace the wireless router every 4 or 5 years. I wouldn’t spend more than $150. I like the Netgear Nighthawks. Of course you need to stay current with your cable modem as well.

You can keep a lot of gear wired by adding a small 8 port $20 TP link switch to your router.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

a) doing IT for 20 years and the most I'd trust NetGear is for simple layer2 switch. nothing more complicated than that. their software is terrible.
sounds like you're looking for a good wifi router and have a need for solid wifi at least on two floors.
In this case, I highly recommend you to take a look at WiFi mesh systems like Google WiFi, Eero, Amplifi HD, Synology.
The single no matter how expensive a single router would never be as good as the mesh system.

I can't fully recommend any of these since I don't have direct experience, other than 1 particular client who originally had these (since he needed something easy - very remote location) they originally worked, but eventually were replaced with professionally installed Ruckus system. Anecdotical evidence is two of my ex-colleagues (both very senior IT engineers) bough Google WiFi.
I rock 3x smb level Wifi access point by Ubiquiti - Uni UAP-AC-Pro. These are in between in complexity between consumer-grade mesh and stuff like Ruckus/Cisco. After these, I will never go back to consumer Wifi stuff like Asus etc..
Some weekend reading:

My quest to fix my terrible home WiFi

When I was young -- in high school or so -- my sister and I had a system worked out. Our Comcast cable internet service routinely seemed to flake out, so she and I would take turns running downstairs to the router, unplugging it, waiting for what felt like the most torturous 30 seconds possible...

www.engadget.com

Amazon’s inexpensive Eero mesh Wi-Fi kit is shockingly good

Eero’s Wi-Fi is great—but its Alexa integration is truly horrible.

arstechnica.com

The Ars Technica semi-scientific guide to Wi-Fi Access Point placement

Wi-Fi is like real estate—the secret is location, location, location.

arstechnica.com

Nest Wi-Fi is a big improvement over Google Wi-Fi. But is it enough?

Nest Wi-Fi’s strength is doing many things well, not doing one thing the best.

arstechnica.com

Ubiquiti’s new “Amplifi Alien” is a mesh-capable Wi-Fi 6 router

Amplifi Alien’s specs look pretty good, but $380 is a lot to ask for a router.

arstechnica.com

Exclusive: Plume’s new “Superpod” hardware is here—and it’s fast

Hands-on with the company’s 2.0 pod—speeds are great; subscriptions may be involved.

arstechnica.com

The Best Wi-Fi Mesh-Networking Systems

If a normal router can’t provide reliable wireless access to every corner of your home, mesh systems should help you work from home and stream games and movies without a hitch.

thewirecutter.com

 

[JerryLove]

BoredSysAdmin is right on the money here.

Wifi is a collision based system; so overall performance drops dramatically as more devices vie for contention (The ArsTechnica article he listed is a good description). Get rid of the router you have (you can turn off wireless and use is as a switch if you like), switch to a mesh system for WiFi. If you can, connect the mesh nodes via cable; but even if you can't, it's an improvement.

I'm working from home in a 5kft^2 space with 5 users each of whom have *at least* two tablets/phones and one PC; plus a dozen or more Echo and Echo show devices. I'm running them on 6 Eero devices (two wired with 4 wireless mesh points) and have a very stable connection.

 

[ryanosaur]

I've heard very good stuff about Ubiquiti, this from the IT consultant that does work for the Coffee company I work at. He's an Apple guy and switched his home network over to Ubiquiti after having great success with his professional clients.
I'm seriously considering going that route, as our Airports are getting quite... eccentric.

 

[TLS Guy]

a) doing IT for 20 years and the most I'd trust NetGear is for simple layer2 switch. nothing more complicated than that. their software is terrible.
sounds like you're looking for a good wifi router and have a need for solid wifi at least on two floors.
In this case, I highly recommend you to take a look at WiFi mesh systems like Google WiFi, Eero, Amplifi HD, Synology.
The single no matter how expensive a single router would never be as good as the mesh system.

I can't fully recommend any of these since I don't have direct experience, other than 1 particular client who originally had these (since he needed something easy - very remote location) they originally worked, but eventually were replaced with professionally installed Ruckus system. Anecdotical evidence is two of my ex-colleagues (both very senior IT engineers) bough Google WiFi.
I rock 3x smb level Wifi access point by Ubiquiti - Uni UAP-AC-Pro. These are in between in complexity between consumer-grade mesh and stuff like Ruckus/Cisco. After these, I will never go back to consumer Wifi stuff like Asus etc..
Some weekend reading:

My quest to fix my terrible home WiFi

When I was young -- in high school or so -- my sister and I had a system worked out. Our Comcast cable internet service routinely seemed to flake out, so she and I would take turns running downstairs to the router, unplugging it, waiting for what felt like the most torturous 30 seconds possible...

www.engadget.com

Amazon’s inexpensive Eero mesh Wi-Fi kit is shockingly good

Eero’s Wi-Fi is great—but its Alexa integration is truly horrible.

arstechnica.com

The Ars Technica semi-scientific guide to Wi-Fi Access Point placement

Wi-Fi is like real estate—the secret is location, location, location.

arstechnica.com

Nest Wi-Fi is a big improvement over Google Wi-Fi. But is it enough?

Nest Wi-Fi’s strength is doing many things well, not doing one thing the best.

arstechnica.com

Ubiquiti’s new “Amplifi Alien” is a mesh-capable Wi-Fi 6 router

Amplifi Alien’s specs look pretty good, but $380 is a lot to ask for a router.

arstechnica.com

Exclusive: Plume’s new “Superpod” hardware is here—and it’s fast

Hands-on with the company’s 2.0 pod—speeds are great; subscriptions may be involved.

arstechnica.com

The Best Wi-Fi Mesh-Networking Systems

If a normal router can’t provide reliable wireless access to every corner of your home, mesh systems should help you work from home and stream games and movies without a hitch.

thewirecutter.com

For once I have to disagree with you.

My experience with Netgear was previously like yours.

However I have done 3 Netgear Orbi mesh installations now. The one at Benedict was done a year ago. It has had a lot of use and the new owners tell me it has had zero reboots.

My brother Paul has had no issues with his in about 18 months now.

I put in Netgear Orbi mesh at our new home. That was up and running for the elevator inspection before we moved in. The system gives a perfect signal in every part of this house like it did at out lake home. It has had zero reboots and has worked perfectly. It supports all our mobile devices all over the house. Before lockdown we had lots of visitors and it supported all the grand children on their devices.

Here it is connected to the patch bay, and two large studio hubs and three elsewhere. So it has been up just over seven months and used intensively. So far it has not been rebooted once.

This Netgear Orbi mesh system is by far the best router I have ever had. None of the others can come close. I can recommend this system unreservedly. My opinion is also shared by the integrator installer who ran a lot of the cabling. He uses the Netgear Orbi mesh on all installs now and is similarly impressed.

I regard it as by far the best domestic system available. Sometimes a Leopard does change its spots!

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

For once I have to disagree with you.

My experience with Netgear was previously like yours.

However I have done 3 Netgear Orbi mesh installations now. The one at Benedict was done a year ago. It has had a lot of use and the new owners tell me it has had zero reboots.

My brother Paul has had no issues with his in about 18 months now.

I put in Netgear Orbi mesh at our new home. That was up and running for the elevator inspection before we moved in. The system gives a perfect signal in every part of this house like it did at out lake home. It has had zero reboots and has worked perfectly. It supports all our mobile devices all over the house. Before lockdown we had lots of visitors and it supported all the grand children on their devices.

Here it is connected to the patch bay, and two large studio hubs and three elsewhere. So it has been up just over seven months and used intensively. So far it has not been rebooted once.

This Netgear Orbi mesh system is by far the best router I have ever had. None of the others can come close. I can recommend this system unreservedly. My opinion is also shared by the integrator installer who ran a lot of the cabling. He uses the Netgear Orbi mesh on all installs now and is similarly impressed.

I regard it as by far the best domestic system available. Sometimes a Leopard does change its spots!

Even a broken clock is right twice a day.


Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

 

[ryanosaur]

The Orbi system is the other one at the top of my list too.
Most of the reviews I've read show it checking pretty much all the boxes.

 

[TLS Guy]

Even a broken clock is right twice a day.


Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Yes, but I have experience of three systems being right for a total of 37 months!

Seriously I think you need to revise your advice. Actually it is more than that. My two sons have also used it for extensive periods with zero issues. My eldest son David is a chief software engineer. He used it first, and advised I used it. He has also installed it for others. If this system was dodgy, one of us at least would have had an issue by now, but we have not.

So as far as the Netgear Orbi Mesh system I have to advise others to ignore your advice. I can not speak for other items from Netgear available now, as I have no experience of them. I have used Netgear products previously and they all had problems, but as I say, not this system. For home use I think ti should be absolutely at the top of anyone's list.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Yes, but I have experience of three systems being right for a total of 37 months!

Seriously I think you need to revise your advice. Actually it is more than that. My two sons have also used it for extensive periods with zero issues. My eldest son David is a chief software engineer. He used it first, and advised I used it. He has also installed it for others. If this system was dodgy, one of us at least would have had an issue by now, but we have not.

So as far as the Netgear Orbi Mesh system I have to advise others to ignore your advice. I can not speak for other items from Netgear available now, as I have no experience of them. I have used Netgear products previously and they all had problems, but as I say, not this system. For home use I think ti should be absolutely at the top of anyone's list.

Let's agree to disagree. I'll admit that unlike you, I don't have direct experience with experience with either of these, but the biggest advantage of orbi is the dedicated third 5ghz radio for backhaul may not necessarily work in every scenario.
I can easily see it working for you in rural setting, but 5ghz signal is strongly reduced by walls. Some more than others.
As for netgear software quality, i found this on first Google pages result :

Orbi RBR50 Dropping Internet Connection Regularly

I have an Orbi RBR50 and RBS50 connected via wireless backhaul. They have been working perfectly for a year. For the past two weeks, the router has been dropping the Internet connection regularly, showing up as having no IP address. Both Orbis have the 2.1.4.16 firmware. I suspect that this...

community.netgear.com

Again, i strongly recommend against buying netgear despite Marks strong suggestion.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

 

[JerryLove]

I regard it as by far the best domestic system available. Sometimes a Leopard does change its spots!

The Orbi system is well regarded among most reviewers; though the Eero pretty routinely scores better though (at least among consumer devices. Some friends have been willing to put in commercial systems at their house. 20 years ago, that's likely the route I would have gone; but I don't enjoy that tinkering as much anymore).

 

[mtrycrafts]

Hey folks - Hope everyone is staying healthy. With this whole stay at home thing, I've noticed more devices are connected for longer periods of time to my router. It's an old Netgear model (R6250) It has anywhere between 10 and 12 devices connected at a time. Over the past week, I have noticed dropouts when I am listening to music. I use JRiver on a PC that has most of my CDs ripped in WAV format. The PC is wireless because it's on the second floor. The Yamaha AVR is plugged directly into the router with an Ethernet cable.

Unplugging the router and rebooting the PC has worked for the moment. But my question is, do you think this router needs to replaced soon? I'm not sure what else could be causing the drop-outs. Probably a whole bunch of things... Anyway I have begun to look at routers and when I google best routers for 2020 two names consistently come up, among others (Asus and Netgear) Does anybody have any ideas of what the best routers are, and if really need to invest in a new one?
Thanks,

Are all those 10-12 devices operating all at once meaning transmitting/receiving data? Just being plugged into the router and waiting for action should not affect operation.
What level of internet service are you buying? Did you notice the issue before the stay at home mandate?
Ever since that mandate, I have buffering issues from streaming whereas nothing before. I have 175 down and 6 up, tri-band wi-fi and usually clock 200 down.
When wife had company before lockdown, 6-12 people with cell, my usage at same time, no issues.
I suspect the lockdown is partially may be the issue.

 

[little wing]

I really appreciate all the responses. I am learning a lot here. Let me try to answer a few questions in some of your responses.

I have Cox cable. I did get the latest Cox panorama Modem/Router. I have the ultimate service which is UP TO 300mb of download speed. Not actually getting that. The Netgear by far, out performs the Cox modem/router in wifi speed. Speed test on the PC on the second floor normally gets between 110-145mbps download speed.

I have to say the Netgear router has been very good so far. Good performance and no trouble. I think it is in the neighborhood of 6 to 7 years old at this point.

The 10 to 12 devices are not typically operating at once. All the hard wire ports are used. AVR, smart TV, Blu-ray player, Roku. Connected wireless are: Two smart phones sometimes three, an HP printer, the PC on the second floor, and two laptops, a second smart TV in the bedroom. Like I said they are not normally operating all at once.

In the past, sometimes I noticed the JRiver media server will disappear from the server menu on the Yamaha 3060. I will need to unplug the router and plug it back in, and it normally fixes the issue. I am betting if the PC was hardwired the problem might go away. But running an ethernet cable along walls and upstairs or through walls or ceilings is not really an option. The drop out issue I have been experiencing over the past few days is new and just weird. Again recycling power to the modem seems to have for the minute, fingers crossed. And yes the router firmware is up-to-date.

Several of you speak very highly on Mesh systems. This is something I have not really known about until now, so thank you all very much!

 

[TankTop5]

While we’re on the topic I’ve had a surfboard 6141 that’s been working great for years but does it need an upgrade or is it still good to go? I’m on a Comcast 175mbps plan and the 6141 is rated for 383mbps, I know not everything is what they say it is and I’m betting the router is gtg, Comcast on the other hand...

 

[mtrycrafts]

Little wing, you should have no trouble getting the speed you pay for when you have ethernet connection to the fi-fi router.
My comcast as tanktop5 has, 175 down and usually clock 200. That has been mu experience for a good many years with them and speed I get, is 20% higher.
I use a tri-band wi-fi router and a stand alone modem Doc3.0 that has a bunch of channels and good for well above service speed.
My laptop has 2x2 wi-fi AC board in it and also get 200 down on the 5gHz band.

You should experiment by connecting your desktop or laptop by ethernet cable to router and get a few speed tests at different times. You should clock at least 300 down.
Can you get into the wi-fi setup part? If so and feel confident in looking what is what, there should be a setup on the 2.4 band with a setting to select which protocol it can use, b, g, or n. Set it to N only as that is the fastest protocol on the 2.4 band. If it is auto, then it will naturally do the lower speeds of the other band no matter what.

ps. you may want to buy your own modem/router and save over the long run but check to see if you can without penalty from company. You would save the rent each moth of those components.